Most conservatives I've talked to here in Michigan have the same struggle I do. None of us want to see thousands of people out of jobs, unable to support their families, and potentially having to move. On the other hand, there seems to be very little hope, economically, for the state of Michigan until the politically powerful unions lose influence. My friends here at the U seem to think the Big Three's problems are mostly due to poor business planning, and don't seem able to grasp that an enormous dead weight of extra benefits U.S. automakers have to pay might cause inefficient business models.
Unfortunately, no state government in Michigan can make these problems go away. (No national government can, either.) The companies must be allowed to restructure under bankruptcy and hopefully become actually profitable, or they must be allowed to fail. (And why don't we ever see start-up American car companies? Hmm....perhaps a lot of the regulatory and union overhead ought to be slashed.) It will hurt Michigan in the shorter run; but in the long run, this hard policy will be less painful than the alternative.
In the meantime, perhaps we can find private solutions for the people who are going to be out of jobs. Ideas?
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